AT&T zeroes in on energy waste with Zero cellphone charger
By Sean Hollister 
posted March 18th 2010 5:48AM
posted March 18th 2010 5:48AM
Plug your cell phone charger into the wall. Feel it. Is it warm? Then like it or not, you're wasting electricity. AT&T would like to change all that with this new Zero charger, a tiny black brick which automatically cuts power to itself whenever your cell phone is disconnected. While it's not quite as amusing as an ejector seat, it's certainly more practical, and the wall wart's modular USB design means you can charge almost any mobile with interchangeable cables (sold separately, of course) while you wait oh-so-patiently for the cellphone industry to finally stop using proprietary ports. If you've got a vampire draw problem, let AT&T be your garlic this May.
Here's the solution - http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/09/1049&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en
EU rocks!
@pavelgr I wouldn't say EU rocks, however, I would say they are above average. :)
@pavelgr
agreed. The bigger waste comes from all the charges accompanying mobile phones. Buy one efficient charger and have it for life.
@sibyy We live in a monetary system, we must buy a charger that breaks so we can buy another later. Otherwise there would be less jobs. Beautiful system isn't it...
@sibyy : That's why the manufacturers have standardized on micro USB.
@pavelgr - That has nothing to do with the problem mentioned in the post. The AT&T charger, if it does what it claims, shuts itself off when a phone is not connected so the wall wart doesn't draw idle power when doing nothing. That is a huge cumulative power savings because most people (me include) leaves wall warts plugged in 24/7. Standard adapters are great too, but this is all about vampire power.
AT&T is making changes that are luring me away from Verizon. I'm waiting till June though...
@Chazwell Ya I know what you mean. Having a wall wart that works on any phone that has a USB based charger really is a deal breaker, because you know. You would only be able to use it on AT&T based devices.
@PhaseDMA I don't believe you understood the context: AT&T is doing things I agree with and I would like to support them. I didn't make the assumption that it was exclusive to AT&T sold devices. Thank you for stating that, it helped refine my original comment.
@Chazwell I have a strange feeling that I love you! Strange, isn't it?
@pavelgr I feel the same way; you just show up on Engadget comments presenting relevant information and exclaiming EU rocks. If you are ever in the nordic region and need a place to stay let me know.
@Chazwell Thank you! Currently, I do not have plans to leave the Balkans, but your comment was so kind! Nordic countries rock! :)
@pavelgr Thank you! I believe networking is quite important, communication brings us closer to having a more constructive global community. Help keep nordic countries great (if you have a facebook): http://apps.facebook.com/causes/292010?m=7e4168d9
Not a bad idea
this really is the tip of the iceberg
EVERY charger should be like this.
Frickin wall outlets need switches in north America !!!
@Kiwi
Got em, and had em for many years now. Wait, so what's your point???
@Suijin I think he is referring to something like this:
http://www.oursbiz.com/Products/b/10/Socket-R6K1SF13--543184.jpg
It is super convenient, and a good safety feature.
How much $? When available? Where available?
The Palm Touchstone already does this: http://www.precentral.net/touchstone-awesome-whats-next
I'm still not convinced there's a problem here. When I've measured my Nokia chargers with a Kill-A-Watt, it read 0 after a full day.
Great, but it's a $30 charger, and I have to question how much energy you're going to save in comparison to the energy used manufacturing the damn thing. Good idea to bundle it with new phones and then eventually stop supplying chargers (you can use your old one) but I'm not convinced of the benefit of buying yet another piece of plastic and electronics.
have you tried unplugging the thing??
Why not just use your USB to charge it from the computer? When it's charging during the night it syncs your data, when you unplug it the USB cable isn't a vampire.
Smartphone people have been doing this for half a decade.